Hi, The 831's power consumption depends on the volume - this is a feature of Sharp portables. If you're constantly in the 25-30 range, you'd get less battery life. Sharp's figure was obtained with volume at "15". Lithium-ion batteries have virtually no memory effect, but I quote from this page: "Li-Ion batteries lose their capacity with every charge/discharge cycle. The slope is such that after about 100 charges the effective capacity is reduced to about 75%-85% of the original." "Li-Ion batteries stored for any time irreversibly lose capacity. The clock starts from the time the cell is made, and runs whether the battery is used or not. It loses approximately 10%/year. " (http://www.rwc.cwc.net/lithium.htm) These may explain the loss of battery life. It seems that not recharging until you use it up is still the best policy. For a pair of "canal-phpnes", the EX70 is in fact easy to fit into your ears. However, it'll take some practice to get the fit right every time. It will block out a lot of ambient noise, but not as much as some other "canal-phones". Because there's less ambient noise, you don't have to turn up the volume as much, so these can be good for your ears. The single bad thing about the EX70 is that it sounds artificial. Both the bass and the treble sounds like they've been deliberately boosted. A lot of owners commented that it sounds 2-dimensional, shrill, tinny, or just weird. The EX70 also hisses more than other earphones. At the price you pay for the EX70, there tend to be a bunch of other nice-sounding earphones: Sony 848, 868, or maybe 888; or even the cheaper Panasonics. I had to have a pair of "canal-phones", so I spent 4-5 times the EX70's price and got an Etymotic ER-4S. If you don't desperately need to block out ambient noise, I would spend the 35 pounds on something else. Hope these are of some help. The 831 is extremely good... hope you find some earphones that'll make the most of it. Leon > Right then. Two main questions. I'm still trying to decide which > ear-buds to get for my 831. I saw some Sony MDR-EX70s at the Sony > shop in the Manchester Trafford Centre yesterday for 35 UK pounds. > But there is little in the way of reviews about them on the net. What > are they like? Do they sound good? Are they comfortable? By being > 'in-the-ear' earbuds, do they actually block out much of the outside > noise? Is this likely to damage my hearing? Is there anywhere I can > buy them cheaper on the net? (bearing in mind that I live in the UK) > The shop assistant (who, admittedly, seemed to know little about > ear-buds) told me to get the 268s (for the same price) but was unable > to explain why they would be better. > > Secondly, the battery life on my 831 isn't (and never has been) what > was claimed. I've had it about 5 months. I usually get around 7 > hours before it conks out. Fair enough, I never expected to get the > full 14 hours, since the manafacturers always exaggerate. However, > gettting 50% of the claimed battery life just isn't good enough. > Is this typical of the 831? If not, are there any 'recharging-tricks' > I could use to heal my battery, or should I just send it back to > Sharp and demand a new battery? (Incidentally, I am sure there is > nothing wrong with the power consumption of the 831 unit itself since > I get the full 'wack' with the AA battery attachment). > Thanks > Robin. ----------------------------------------------------------------- To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
